Crop Yields Are Disappointing

Southwestern Minnesota farmers are parking the combine after a stressful growing season. “Yields are definitely poor across the board,” said Bill Gordon, Worthington, Minnesota. “Some guys maybe had a decent field or two, but with the zeros from the early water we had, it really hurt the yields.” There has been one surprise. “What’s amazing about the year is the quality of the crop. The corn is coming in at 50-60 pound test weights.” Fall tillage is happening although the ground is exceptionally dry and tough on the equipment this year.

University of Minnesota Extension agronomist Seth Naeve says much of the crop dealt with too much moisture in the spring and not enough moisture the rest of the growing season.

“I think people were pretty prepared for a little bit lower yields than expected because of this dry period we had late in the year. So I think farmers are all kind of conditioned for that and kind of expecting a little bit of a pullback on yield, but I think most folks are a little bit disappointed overall.”

He tells Brownfield soybeans looked pretty good late in the year.

“So I think despite the really, really wet weather we had early, there was potential there for decent yields but we just couldn’t pull through in the end.”

The soybean harvest is 95 percent complete in Minnesota as of Sunday.

Sources:  Red River Farm Network & Brownfield